Northern Moonlight Read Free Page B

wasn’t scheduled to work, and he felt unusually restless.   He had no plans for the day but was overflowing with an odd, nervous energy whose source was unidentifiable.   Running a hand roughly through his short black hair, he blew out a heavy breath and proceeded to disrobe for a quick shower.  
     
Hastily, Giovanni ripped off his green tee-shirt and peeled off gray pants and matching boxers, so he was standing nude on the col d hardwood floor.   His body was utter ly male, from the thatch of hair over sculpted chest to the imposing broad ness of his shoulders .   He showered briskly, scrubbing every inch of his flesh with a lather of soap that smelled of cedar and citrus.   Emerging from the shower, Gio dressed quickly in a flannel shirt and khaki pants.  Running a comb through his close-cut hair, he tried to forget how much he needed a woman.
     
 
     
A Few Days Later…
     
Rubbing his exhausted eyes with one hand and steering his truck with the other, Giovanni pulled into the Evergreen D iner, hoping for a strong cup of black coffee to revive him.   He had spent the previous night tackling a massive motel fire .   R escue efforts had been swift and successful, but the motel was not so fortunate.   Half the building was nothing but soot and ashes now.  
     
Giovanni groaned as he briskly massaged the back of his neck while walking into the diner.   As he made his way to the counter, he did a visible double-take as a strikingly beautiful woman leapt gracefully out of a vinyl swivel chair at the counter.  As the jukebox in the corner drifted into a new song, she passed quickly by with a brown paper bag in one hand, jingling car keys in the other.  
     
Trying not to gape, Giovanni drank in the bewitching sight of cascading mahogany hair, sweet pink lips, a delicate but lushly formed body, accentuated by a winter-white sweater and tight dark blue denims with brown suede boots zippered almost to her thighs .   He felt his heart thudding madly as he watched the woman leave without so much as a glance in his direction.   Giovanni was still staring after her, bemused, as she hurried to her silver sedan.
     
In a rush, Sabrina hopped into her car, opening the brown bag to unveil an enormous cranberry muffin. She picked at the muffin distractedly while backing her car out of the d iner’s parking lot.   It was 10:40 , and she was already ten minutes late for her appointment with her photo editor.
     
 
     
*****
     
Giovanni left the diner that morning in a haze of bewilderment, wondering who that captivating, chestnut-haired woman was and where she was rushing off to.   As a boy, he had always been fascinated by mystery books, often sneaking a peek to the last page to see how the case would be resolved.   But this was one case he couldn’t so easily crack.   He deduced that she must live in town because no one but locals ever frequented the rustic Mom and Pop’s eatery.   Surely he had never seen her before because her face and voluptuous form were already embedded in his memory. H e felt her swimming in his subconscious and knew that he would dream of her.   That he wanted to dream of her.   But more than that, he wanted to see her again, hear her voice, undoubtedly sweet and lilting, oozing cream and sugar.  
     
As Giovanni drove down the road, he mindlessly turned on the radio, positively unable to shake her image from the boiling cauldron of his imagination.   Love was not a notion he would welcome into his life, but the touch of a woman certainly couldn’t hurt…And the woman he saw at the diner would more than fulfill his growing needs.   Sailing through an amber light, he resolved to comb every square inch of Ver mont until he found her.
     
 
     
 
     
 
     

 
Chapter 2
     
 
     
April 1980
     
Spring was slowly beginning to bloom and melt gigantic mounds of snow all across New England.  Sabrina, camera in tow, was taking a refreshing stroll along Lake Champlain, admiring the